Franciscan Friars

Franciscans are people and groups (religious orders) who adhere to the teachings and spiritual disciplines of St Francis of Assisi. The movement originates within the Catholic Church, where it also remains most numerous. However, Franciscan Orders and Franciscan spirituality are also found within other Christian denominations, including Old Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism.

The coat of arms that is a universal symbol of Franciscans “contains the Tau cross, with two crossed arms: Christ’s right hand with the nail wound and Francis’ left hand with the stigmata wound”.[1]

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Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi (Italian: San Francesco d’Assisi), born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, informally named as Francesco (1181/1182 – 3 October 1226),[1][3] was an Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men’s Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land.[1] Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.[1]

Pope Gregory IX canonised Francis on 16 July 1228. Along with Saint Catherine of Siena, he was designated Patron saint of Italy. He later became associated with patronage of animals and the natural environment, and it became customary for Catholic and Anglican churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October.[4]

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Saint Claire

Saint Clare of Assisi (July 16, 1194 – August 11, 1253, born Chiara Offreduccio and sometimes spelled Clair, Claire, etc.) is an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscantradition, and wrote their Rule of Life,[1] the first set of monastic guidelines known to have been written by a woman. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honor as the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares.

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